way. one man is taking on the catholic bishops here and across the state. good evening, i'm dan ashley. i'm kristen sze. he's suing because they allegedly covered up child sex abuse claims. >> david louie is live with the story. >> bishop patrick mcgraw is expected to be here in an eff ef to solve the issue of clergy abuse. he wants to hear from victims or their families. today's filing of a lawsuit reflects concerns that they're concerned. the diocese of san sees are holding listening session toss allow parishioner toss speak to church leaders about the sexual abuse issues. however, a victim's advocacy group filed a lawsuit seeking names of suspended or known

offenders and disclose you are of sensitive church records. >> this lawsuit seeks to force each of these bishops in each of these diocese across the state to not only disclose the identities and all of them of all the offenders, but their histories and the documents that they keep secret in their secret file. >> the plaintiff is 50-yearold thomas emmons. he was abused by a monsignor 40 years ago. >> he was a close family friend. i remember birthday parties with him, i remember pick nims with me. he sexually assaulted me for about two years. >> emmons hopes other victims follow his example and step forward. advocates believe the church has detailed records of clergy abuse. >> any action to keep this information secret is a public safety nightmare. the public deserves better. >> the california conference says every state requires

fingerprinting of clergy, staff and volunteers working with children. the diocese of oakland has -- the diocese of san jose says it will release in mid-october the names and status of priests found to be credibly accused of abusing minors. >> the victim's advocacy group says that the church has a secret playbook. it involves sending priests to other cities in other parishes. on abc 7 news at 6:00, we'll show you a map that the advocates put together showing where in the world the wayward priests are living and working. live in san jose, david louie, abc 7 news. david. thank you. we'll see you at 6:00 for that. support for the pope has plunged because of the sex abuse scandals according to the pugh research center, they say pope francis is doing a fair or poor job handling the allegations. the bay area is a special place but we want to make it a

better place to live. every day we're tackling the biggest issues in our community. we're devoting more time reporting to the major stories impacting your life. the ongoing commitment to building a better bay area and exploring what's next for san francisco's drug crisis. this is after the governor rejected a plan. it's clear, there's an issue. over the past week, we've introduced you to three video vigilantes. they've posted hundreds of pictures and videos in the past month. all of these images were taken in the san francisco district 6, which includes the south of market area and the tenderloin. we sent reporter lyanne melendez to see what solutions to the drug crisis people there might support. lyanne. >> reporter: i think it's safe to say that the safe injection site proposal is very much supported by local politicians by, of course, the mayor of san

francisco and yes, drug addicts here on the streets. now, in exactly two minutes, i'll tell you why it may not be dead. in the meantime, people are talking about solutions. >> to say that drug use in the tenderloin is rampant would be an understatement. three politicians running for supervisor of that district say they're willing to take a shot at solving the drug crisis. here's sonia trous. >> enough is enough and can't let them continue to inject outside. we have to make sure that the rehab is available. >> here's the reality. despite spending lots of money to fund services, all three candidates will tell you there are not enough long-term residential treatment centers in the city. matt haney says it's time to open more of them. >> right now, people are coming here because of our failures. because we have a situation where people are on the street using and buying. we have street level dealing. open air markets.

i stopped to talk to three young men admitting being addicted to hero heroin. christine johnson is also running for district 6. supports expanding the home ward bound program which connects those already here with families in other cities. >> we connect them back and we provide so basically a bus or a plane ticket back to friends and loved ones. i can take care of them. >> we've heard from the politicians. what about the drug abusers, how would they solve the drug crisis in san francisco. let's find out. >> after he was done shooting up twice, i asked this 26-year-old from upstate new york what it would take for him to quit? >> what it boils down is finding the right program and like, having the willpower to really stick to it. >> despite several attempts so far, he's failed. as a recovering alcoholic, daniel knows what it's like to fail.

today is his 71st birthday. >> they're scared. they don't know what it's going to be like to be sober. okay? heroin addicts don't know what it's going to be like to go through the bad withdrawals. >> the reason why the state's injection site proposal may not be dead is because governor brown who vetoed the bill will be stepping down in january. california will have a new governor and already people are talking about reintroducing the bill hoping that this time it will pass. in san francisco, leeian ialyae melendez, abc 7 news. here are a few facts about injection sites. they are illegal according to the justice department. jeff sessions vowed to sue any city that opens one in his veto of a safe injection site bill, governor brown came down on the

same side of the trump administration which says taxpayers should not endorse illegal drug use. san francisco isn't alone in support of the sites. officials in philadelphia and seattle have expressed support for opening one in their cities. from the drug crisis to the housing shortage, to safety on public transit, our goal here is to bring you even greater context and perspective to these kinds of stories. we're digging deeper to find solutions every single day. stay with abc 7. watch our ongoing commitment to build ing a better bay area. let us know what you think. >> one of the big issues is always the commute. it's not known when salesforce transit center will reopen. the $2.2 billion transit center closed down one week ago after there were cracks in two support beams. the transbay authority wants to know what caused the girders to crack. until then the transit center and rooftop park will likely remain closed. the portion of fremont street

that passes beneath the damaged part of the transit hub is expected to be open by the end of next week. >> the peninsula, traffic was backed up on the san mateo bridge when a car went up in flames. smoke billowing into the sky. 911 caller told officials that looked like the driver got out of the car safely. that's what we understand. a dangerous close call for a driver in the east bay this morning. sky 7 was over lake merrick in oakland after a car flipped and just missed plunging into lake merit. it's unclear why the driver crashed. but it appeared the road was wet from the rain this morning. that driver is okay. all right. in the north bay, the fire department tweeted photos of a tree branch and power lines down on kings street east ts morning. the rain is partially to blame for a roof collapse in a shopping mall in san rafael. look at this. nobody was injured. but had this happened later in the day, certainly might have been a different kind of story.

abc 7 news reporter wayne freedman is live with more. wayne? >> reporter: indeed, kristen. it's still a big story. a lot of people use this store. had it happened later in the day, it could have been a dangerous or national story. you can see the tape behind me, people milling around and it's a mess inside >> when the first heavy rain came, we expected typical complications. but not this. a roof collapse that could have been much worse had it not happened at the home goods store in san rafael's north gate mall. >> they're lucky nobody was in there. >> there are only two early morning employees inside at the time. they called to report a leak. little did they know of the damage. what appears to be a clogged drain turned the flat roof into a seeping lake increasing pressure. as the firemen entered, they moved toward the back. >> then it just, that front section came down.

>> sending water, beams and metal into what who have been crowded checkout lanes a couple of hours later. a building inspector noted cracked wood above and issued a red tag. they're awaiting a full report with nothing severyn as certain >> it's unstable. >> worth noting, the building is separate from north gate mall where thousands of customers shop daily. but this home goods store is extremely popular among shoppers who would never have seen this coming. >> slightly concerns about when the last inspection was. >> >> reporter: the san rafael building department says the building here will remain closed indefinitely. home goods said they are assessing the damage and merlin greer partners, the owners of the mall intend to keep the rest of the mall opened. they wouldn't answer the

question about whether they will be inspecting the rest of the drain anl pipes. it really came down this morning. this may not be the end. >> that's right, dan and kristen. looking at the wider picture, more moisture headed in our direction. the hour by hour look coming up. thousands of documents seized. what's behind the crackdown. plus -- >> i was in the middle between two warring factions, the insurance company and the hospital. >> it was taking a bigger toll than he realized. surviving medical debt and your credit s

the san francisco vaip maker juul is taking a lot of heat tonight. seeking more than a thousand documents from that e-cigarette maker. dion lim has been looking into this product. >> reporter: that's right, dan. a high school student just walked by and i asked him if he knew what this was. he took a look and instantly said yeah, that's the juul. this device has much nicotine as cigarettes making it highly adictive, which is why the fda wants to make sure they do not get in the hands of kids. there are dozens of e-cigarettes on the market.

number one selling product. >> i send them -- >> in 18 months, juul has made a meteoric rise at the center for tobacco control, research and education dominating 70% of the e-cigarette market. >> became like a high school and college phenomenon. >> the food and drug administration seized over 1,000 documents from juul san francisco headquarters. into the investigation into the appeal for young people. >> the company admitted that they started out they really did market to youth. they had instagram accounts and did social media promotions and they later said that was a mistake. >> i don't see other kids smoking around the halls or the bathroom, sometimes i feel like i might smell it. i do see a lot of advertising. >> like other e-cigarettes, it comes in different flavors. what makes it appealing to young people, it's small and looks like a usb and easily

concealable. when you wave it around, it goes into party mode. >> doesn't have the stigma and on isubconscious level, it's associated with something more you keep in your pocket. >> a spokesperson says the company is committed to preventing underage use and wants to engage with fda, fda, lawmakers. they've released 50,000 of pages to the fda since april. >> reporter: we should point out, this is not the fab cracked down on juul. in september, they had 60 days to prove they could not get these in the hands of kids. live in san francisco, dion lim, abc 7 news. dion, thank you. it can happen to anyone. getting a surprise medical bill that really puts you in serious debt. >> michael finney is here to talk about remedies. >> it's money that we're talking about here. bigger than that.

more than 25% of people with health insurance have received a surprise medical bill. just big consequences on your credit score. >> there are ways to protect yourself. >> a ten-day hospital stay and heart condition in 2016 left him with medical bills popping $130,000. the 59-year-old comic bookstore owner thought his insurance would cover most of it. after months of trying to navigate the $76,000 gap between what his insurance company would pay and what the hospital billed him, he would turned over to a collection's agency. the first step to blowing up his credit. >> something i don't like about the certainty. it's living with it 24/7. the idea that i don't know how this is going to end. am i going to lose my business or my house? >> medical debt can do major damage to your finances if you leave it unresolved. >> new rules are trying to help.

the three big credit agencies, equifax, experian and transunion are required to wait 180 days before putting an unpaid medical bill on your credit report. so if you're disputing a claim -- let the hospital or doctor's office know you need more time to sort things out. if the insurance company ultimately pays a bill, it has to be taken off your credit report. >> you have to follow-up with your health care provider to get proof of payment. you might have to insist that the debt is removed from your credit report. >> bill townsend hired a medical billing advocate to help him resolve his bill. it wasn't cheap but saved his sanity. >> like a great weight had been lifted off. >> now final notes. don't use high interest credit rate cards to pay bills. instead i many health provider

offer installment plans to help you make the payments with no or little interest. the patietient advocate foundat can be a good place to go to help you. i have posted that on the website. you can check it out there. >> thank you, michael. going to the weather. now your accuweather forecast is sandhya patel. >> look at live doppler 7 now. isolated shower developed. our radar taking you down to street level around lakeport, south main street. we're going to pan around a little bit here. you will notice upper lake getting some much-needed rain. here are the rainfall totals so far. it was drenching rain from santa rose to mill val toy cloverdale. san francisco 1900. as you notice towards mountain view, san jose, eastward towards livermore, only trace amounts.% some am of you did not get any. if this system skipped over you and you're sort of missing that rain, there's another opportunity. i do want to show you something

that is not real typical for the bay area. look at the dew points in santa rosa, novato, napa. in the 60s. that's humid. many other areas are in the muggy range. if it's feeling sticky out there, this is more of a southern latitude storm as opposed to a colder storm. it's sticky with a south wind at times. anywhere from the 60s to the 80s. most of you in the 70s and 80s this afternoon. the emeryville camera as we look across the bay, scattered showers tomorrow. muggy pattern through thursday. it's going to be brighter and milder for the end of the week. here's a look at the area of low pressure that continues to spin. this is just been stalled out. we've seen moisture move through. it's eventually going to continue to move away like it has been. but we'll see another band of moisture pass through here as we head towards tomorrow. on the exclusive abc 7 news scale, it's a light system tomorrow, level one. scattered showers, best chance in the afternoon. there is a slight chance of an

isolated thunderstorm. hour by hour we go, 9:00 tonight, just clouds and the sticky feel still. 10:00, shower may develop along the san mateo coast. you'll see more moisture approaching the coastline and tomorrow morning during the commute, don't be surprised if you need your wipers at times as it will be a little bit on the damp side. drizzle or light shower into your morning commute. for the afternoon, this is when we start to see the action beginning to develop around 1:00 p.m. coming in from the southeast and heading northwestward towards the lake county area. 2:30 to 4:00 p.m., you'll notice the showers still developing. light to moderate in intensity. then later on at night this all winds down. rainfall totals are all over the board. anywhere from nothing for parts of the bay area to a tenth of an inch. 48 hundredths in brentwood. still going to be humid. you can leave your jackets behind. upper 50s to mid-60s. mild to start off your day.

low 6s to the upper 70 hit or miss showers for wednesday. download the accuweather app and track live doppler 7. seven-day forecast. a light level one system for tomorrow. scattered showers and partly cloudy for your thursday. the humidity starts to come down. it's lower by friday. may see fog there. those temperatures will head up as the wind picks up along the coastline like that. it's going to be a mild to warm pattern with low to mid-60s coast, low to mid-80s inland. we'll carry on with that monday and tuesday. for the blue angels, the weather is going to cooperate. we'll get the much needed rain. helps with the pollen count. lessening the fire danger. it's a win-win for that. >> now blue angels. as we continue sitting by the

a new report says the mayor sam liccardo is -- according to the mercury news,ly card owe sent a memo to several colleagues calling for a ballot measure to move the it to 2024. liccardo wants to take advantage of the higher voter turnout seen during presidential election years. not everyone supports the move since it means liccardo would serve an extra two years in office. he was elected to a second term in june. >> 100 years since the war to end all wars. service members gathered at the war memorial building. that's where united states postal service. commemorating the end of world war i. a local group is also hosting special exhibits on the history of the first world war open to the public. fleet week is in full swing in san francisco. we mentioned that a moment ago. it's over the "uss manchester."

it's a navy combat ship and commissioned in may. you can tour this and others if you like. there's a parade of ships on friday morning. fleet week always such a great time. >> unusual rescue caught on video right outside a truckie firehouse. >> we'll show

i'm a.m. i daetz coming up

at 6:00. in-depth on the salesforce transit center that could dictate when it might reopen. also -- >> i ended up spending at least ten hours or more on the phone. >> patients up to a -- 7 on your side had to get involved in this woman's disea-- thanks, we'll see you then i. forlgt goldilocks. this is truckie firefighters and the three bears. >> the loud crash of a tipped over garbage bin woke up a fire protection crew. at daybreak, they found and an agitated mama bear. >> one firefighter distracted her and another cautiously opened the closed flaps and this is what they found. >> two babies. three of them. there's three of them. >> the first baby bear peaked out.

scurried out to mama who was waiting in the woods by then. >> that's right. it took -- they had more time for the third babe toy come out. it too eventually escaped. all's

tonight, as we come on the air, breaking news coming in involving president trump. we have just learned of a suspicious letter sent to him. what the secret service is saying, as authorities are also on the scene at the pentagon tonight. samples testing positive for ricin, the deadly poison sent to two top officials, including defense secretary james mattis. also tonight, the fbi investigation into president trump's supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. this evening, who they've now talked to, and will they reach out to dr. christine blasey ford at all? what we've learned tonight. also breaking at this hour, the tax bombshell from "the new york times." "the time times" tonight allegi that the million dollar loan t